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happy holidaysfrom the Tracy Pressfrom the Tracy Press 20102010

Memories are made many ways during the holidays — while struggling with celebratory planning, enjoying meals with family and friends and helping strangers have a merrier season. This year, we

share our stories and recipes that have made holidays past worth remembering and sharing.

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Trip down memory lane

For anybody who has worked in a kitchen, nothing says “fail” like burnt gravy.

That’s exactly what I did one Thanksgiving at a charity dinner when I lived in Rohnert Park.

It’s not like I turned around to find a smoking cinder at the bottom of the pot, but once I discovered what burnt gravy tastes like, I was hor-rified that I could be respon-sible for such an atrocity.

Pretty much everything we cooked that day was so simple that there were few ways we could mess it up. All the cooks were friends of the Rev. Sam Tharpe, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Fellowship and director of T’s Academy, a small private school based at his storefront church.

In other words, there were no professional cooks in the group. The turkeys all were roasted at local

restaurants. The mashed potatoes we made from the big bags of potato flakes, with a just-add-water-and-but-ter recipe. Same with the stuffing, and the vegetables all came from No. 10 cans familiar to anyone who has

worked in food service.The gravy, too, was really

simple. Just add the pow-der to water and simmer. Unfortunately, I put the heat on a bit too high after I mixed it, and then tended to other things. When I did look, it was bubbling and steaming, and I really couldn’t remember how long it had been on the stove. I

immediately turned off the heat.I didn’t even realize it was burned

— it still hadn’t occurred to me that anyone could burn gravy — until we started to serve dinners, starting with the take-out containers that went to local seniors. First someone noticed that the smell wasn’t right. It was

clearly a burnt smell. I tasted it and, sure enough, it was all through the gravy and everything it covered, and I didn’t even know how many dinners went out with that horrible stuff cov-ering everything. After we dumped out what was left, we saw the thick black crust at the bottom of the pot.

It was only one batch out of several that we made that day, so it wasn’t a total disaster. Right away, though, I decided that I had to atone for this mistake and pledged that I would learn to make gravy properly.

Since then, I’ve cooked turkeys at charity dinners and for family and made gravy and potatoes any number of times. The main thing to remem-ber is that you have to always pay attention to what’s on the stove. Also, remember that the most embarrass-ing mistakes are the ones that you think could never happen to you.

� Bob Brownne is sports editor for the Tracy Press and “the entire sports department.”

For as long as I can remember, it wasn’t real-ly Christmas until I had

watched the 1966 Christmas classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

The cartoon version of the Dr. Seuss book has got to be

my favorite Christmas movie of all time. I can remember my brother and me watching it on the living room couch, year after year. Even as a col-lege student

at Fresno State, a bunch of us would gather in one of the dorm rooms to watch the half-hour show. From the cool collection of Whoville characters to the catchy “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” song, the movie has become my holiday tradition that goes on to this day.

Although it has been 2½ years since my mother passed away, my fondest memories together are the Thanksgivings we shared.

My father passed away in 1987, and from that year on was when I started having Thanksgiving at our house. Although I had never made a Thanksgiving dinner before, my mom assured me we could do it together.

My daughter was only 1 then, and my mom alternated between showing me what to do and baby-sitting for me while I worked on dinner. She would arrive the day before and spend the night with us. These were hours that I truly cherish now, when we really got a chance to spend time together.

She came every year until her death in March 2008. She taught me how to make a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner that my family loves.

As Thanksgiving approaches, although I’m always missing her in my heart, I’m truly thankful for God blessing me with such a beautiful, loving mother.

� Mary Anne Brenkwitz was born and raised in Tracy. Her mother, Belmeda Sequeira, was a member of the Jacks family and lived in Banta until her marriage in 1947.

Courtesy photo of Mary Anne Brenkwitz with mother Belmeda Sequeira and husband Stephen Brenkwitz

Mother-daughter time

The following are favorite holiday memories and traditions shared by some of the Press’ staff. Tracy resident Mary Anne Brenkwitz also shares her fondest memory.

My all-time favorite memory for Thanksgiving would have to be when I was about 8 years old.

This little tradition has been in my family forever.

My mom saw that someone had put a bikini on a turkey and positioned it like it was getting a suntan. We had to do this; there was no way we could pass this up. It took me and her a good hour to get the right look we wanted for our “sexy” turkey. I must say, it was well worth the laughs to try to fit foil around a tur-key and make it look good at the same time.

After the turkey had been fully cooked, it was time to see what we had created. Pulling off the

foil on a darkly cooked turkey was something to see. The turkey looked like it was badly sun-burnt; we thought the bikini would not have stayed on, or it would have turned brown as well. But we must have gotten really lucky — our turkey looked like a blast from the past with its 1980s bikini. We did put the arms behind its head to make it look like it was lounging. My dad almost did not want to carve it because it was so funny.

Now, every year we have our bikini turkey to serve; every year we switch up the bikini, to a one-piece or something skimpy. It’s pretty silly, but well worth a good laugh every year at the table.

� Raquel Castillo is a Tracy Press intern and a Millennium High School graduate.

Bikini turkey tradition continues

Raquel Castillo

Glenn Moore

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

� Glenn Moore is photo editor for the Press and the official coffee addict of the newsroom.

Bob Brownne

Caution: Do not leave gravy unattendedThanksgiving has been a

tradition at my in-laws’ house for the 20-plus years

I’ve been a member of the family.My wife’s daughter has

also planned on attending, and that was a plus, as we would also get together with Dana and the grand-children, as well as my extended family.

One Thanksgiving Day, though, my wife woke to the flu, so we wouldn’t be traveling south this year.

Wanting to make the best of the day, I took a run to Save Mart to get Cornish hens and had planned to stuff them and barbecue them and try to sal-vage the day. Our dinner wouldn’t compare to the food that awaited us in an hour south of Tracy, or so we thought.

Later in the afternoon, my wife

got a call from her daughter, Dana, and she was laughing as well as trying to drive home.

Dana’s report was one of the funniest Thanksgiving Days my in-laws will remember for a long time.

’Long about 4 a.m. Thanksgiving Day, my mother-in-law woke to start preparing for the day, only to find there was no power in the house, as well as a wide area around her house. No lights to see at 4 a.m. and an electric cook-

top that didn’t work — this was going to be a trying day for my mother-in-law.

Thank god my father-in-law had been given a 40-pound bird, and knowing that it wouldn’t fit in the oven, he decided to pit-barbecue

John Wilson

Thank goodness for the f lu

TURKEY DINNER, CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

For more, see pages 5 & 6

Can you imagine a holi-day where you celebrate through an experience of

gluttony? This day, we have the church’s official permission to break one of Augustine’s Seven Deadly Sins.

As an obese child, Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday.

There was no work, eating, watching a parade on TV, eating, watching a football game, and eating. The best part was it was encouraged by my parents.

My mother did all of the work and seemed to enjoy it. My role, and the role of all the men in my family, was to stay out of the kitchen and make a large show of appreciation.

Today, I still mostly watch, although I get to choose the wine. Living in Tracy, with its wineries, I can tell the differ-ence between red, white and ripple.

I also am in charge of carving the turkey and saying grace. As the patriarch, I get the pleasure of both. That, and the fact that I worked in a butcher shop as a teenager and have been a pastor for 41 years.

Carving the turkey is easy, although I do feel guilty that the bird had to die so we might get a major dose of L-tryptophan.

The secret to carving the tur-key is to act like you know what you are doing. Hardly anyone else there will know how to do it. As it only happens once a year, they will not remember how well or badly you have done, especially after they are full of it and wine.

Saying grace is more difficult. People are anxious to eat, and you still wish to express grati-tude for the food, the family, and the harvest.

One year, they asked me to say grace and I begged off. The role fell to a rather elderly mis-sionary who had been saving up for quite a long time. She was thankful for the food, the weath-er, the cooks, the individual veg-etables, and on and on.

I accept the assignment with little complaint now.

Come to think about it, I am thankful for all those things and more. I am grateful for being here, for those who have made my life interesting and better. I am glad that we have the abil-ity to sit down and freely gather around the pile of food.

Admittedly, I am not excited about the fact that the Christmas season started this year on Labor Day, but I’m looking forward to celebrating it eventually.

So here is to being asked to be with family, to having enough to eat, and to red wine, white wine and ripple.

� Mike McLellan can be contacted by calling and leaving a message at 830-4201 or e-mailing him at DrMikeM@sbcglobal.net.

Thanksgiving is upon us, my friends. As a man who likes his food and certainly likes his wine,

this turns out to be my favorite holiday. How much more American could

a holiday be? We are expected to do nothing more than gorge ourselves with turkey and mashed potatoes while we consume copious amounts of wine. But what wines should be served with a meal of such variety? Ah, there’s the rub.

The first thing I would suggest is champagne. This should be drunk throughout the entire day — before, during and after dinner. Like no other

drink, champagne has the incredible ability to bring liveliness and cheerful-ness to a party.

If you are going to mix it with orange juice, then any old sparkler will do. If you are going to enjoy it without mix-ture, I would suggest Roederer Estate, a fine, modestly priced California sparkler, or Veuve Clicquot, a moderately priced, very drinkable bottle of champagne.

The wine most likely to pair best with your meal will be pinot noir. Most Thanksgiving dinners consist of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and maybe a couple of other sides. Pinot noir is an excellent pair-

ing for the turkey (and most other less gamy poultry), as well as the cranberry sauce and stuffing. It works well with a lighter gravy, too.

If you would like to serve a white wine, as well, I would suggest some-thing medium-bodied. A chardonnay with minimal oak would be an accept-able option.

If you are serving beef or pork, you will want a bigger red wine, like caber-net sauvignon or merlot, because most pinot noir flavors will be overpowered by the intensity of the meat.

Thanksgiving desserts are fairly various. We usually have pumpkin

pie in my family, with a nice sauterne. Sauterne comes from Bordeaux and is made from sauvignon blanc and Semillon grapes. For heavier desserts (like chocolate cake and ice cream), I would suggest a port or late-harvest zinfandel. If you are a dessert lover, make sure to have a dessert wine on hand. A regular dry red wine paired with a dessert loaded with sugar will be totally imbalanced.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, my fellow wine lovers. Cheers!

� Columnist Austin Twohig, a certified sommelier, can be reached at austin@thesantacruzexperience.com.

For a lot of folks, a good share of their off hours in the next 10 days or so

will be spent on travel plans, preparations for entertaining, and the logistics of cooking and serving the traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Although the commer-cial blitzkrieg surrounding Christmas has seduced people of every stripe, that holiday is — albeit to what many practic-ing Christians no doubt feel is an increasingly limited extent — a religious observance. The fourth Thursday in November, however, is a holiday for every American. Thanksgiving is a straightforward celebration of life and of where and with whom we are.

The popular concept of Thanksgiving links it to Pilgrims and American Indians at Plymouth Plantation in 1621. It’s a reference that serves a purpose, but the meal shared by the natives and the immigrants on that occasion was actually an autumn harvest observance and a formal “thank you” to the Wampanoag Indians for teaching the skills and practices necessary to get the new arriv-als through the coming winter. Fully half of the Pilgrims had died in the winter of 1620, their first in the new country.

During the early period, the colonies would periodically proclaim days of thanksgiving, usually in celebration of good news or a propitious event. Ten years after the celebrated meal at Plymouth Plantation, for example, the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared a day of thanksgiving when an over-due and much-needed supply ship arrived after it had been thought lost at sea.

The Continental Congress issued the first declaration of a national day of thanksgiving

in 1777 and continued to do so through 1783, with each dec-laration specific to the given year and typically falling in December. George Washington picked up the practice in his first year in office: Thursday, Nov. 25, 1789, was the first Thanksgiving Day declared in the new nation. But another was not observed for several years.

Until the Civil War, only the New England area continued to have annual formal harvest observances.

It is Sarah Josepha Hale to whom we owe thanks for the holiday Americans now enjoy. Born and raised in New England, she gained some prominence with an 1827 novel that included two chap-ters detailing the November thanksgiving traditions of her youth. The following year, she became the first female editor of a national publication in the United States, and for the next 40 years, the highly successful and very influential Lady’s Book Magazine was her platform for a campaign to establish a recurring national day of thanksgiving.

In addition to features and articles in the magazine, she cajoled celebrities to join her cause, lobbied every incumbent U.S. president and wrote let-ters to governors, ministers and editors. Starting in 1846,

she devoted each November issue to the proposed holiday — with recipes, poems and sto-ries depicting idealized family gatherings. In an 1858 editorial, Hale asked the country to “con-secrate the day to benevolence of action by sending good gifts to the poor and doing those deeds of charity that will, for one day, make every American home the place of plenty and rejoicing.”

By 1860, 25 of the 31 states had proclaimed annual thanksgiving observances, nearly all stipulating the last Thursday in November. Still, it took the shock of the Civil War and the staggering horror of the battle of Gettysburg in 1863 to turn the tide. Lady’s Book Magazine, containing Hale’s annual editorial calling for a national day of thanks-giving, struck a chord with Americans after that impor-tant Union victory, and it was widely circulated. She sent a copy to President Abraham Lincoln, with a personal letter asking that he have the “day of our annual thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union festival.”

On Oct. 3, 1863, Honest Abe did just that, setting the annual observance as the final Thursday in November.

Remarkably, Thanksgiving is still celebrated in the spirit that Ms. Hale and President Lincoln intended. On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, retailers have managed to institute a national day of spending. But on Thursday, most of us manage to harbor good will, thanks and generosity through cooking and eating and family and football.

And that’s just what Abe and Sarah intended.

� Columnist Steve Bailey can be reached at sbailey@cruzio.com.

THURSDAY, NOV. 25, 2010 | 3

Thanksgiving for the

little things

TILTED WINDMILLSMIKE MCLELLAN

The secret to carving the turkey

is to act like you know what you are doing.

Hardly any-one else there

will know how to do it.

There’s a trick to matching wines with Thanksgiving fare

AUSTIN TWOHIGTHE WINE LOVER

Reflections on a day of gratitude

STEVE BAILEYOFF HOURS

As Thanksgiving approaches, we take a moment to step back and reflect on the things we have and are thankful for in our

lives. Looking back at 2010, one thing comes to mind: I’m so glad it’s almost over.

Seriously, what a nightmare year we had. We thought 2009 was a bumpy roller-coaster descent into hell, but 2010 turned out to be a log ride plunge down the flume of despair.

Business was bad — I ran from crime scene to crime scene through the year, sprinkled in a few fatal accidents and cou-ple of personal crises, just to keep my chances of developing an ulcer interesting.

Heading into the Thanksgiving season, I don’t think there could be much to be thankful for. But in the spirit of the season, let me stop and ponder on some the bright spots of the year.

I’m thankful that my one working camera hasn’t gone belly up so far this year. My last assignment had the Canon 1D Mk II shutter actuation count at 760,368. That means I have taken 510,368 more pictures than the rated life of the shutter, which is 250,000 shutter cycles. My camera is living on bor-rowed time. I lift another glass of gravy in salute to my workhorse camera.

With the plethora of holiday television shows and movies that bombard us this time of year, I am thankful that, somehow, I managed to avoid seeing the 2008 release of “Thankskilling.” It tells the story of a demonic turkey on his holiday bloodlust rampage, murdering college kids on their Thanksgiving holiday break. Pass the cranberry sauce and pray the kids are in bed when this movie pops up on the late-night cable channels.

And on this day of annual Thanksgiving feasting, I am ever so thankful that I have not been offered a frosty glass of Bacon Soda. From the same creative minds at Jones Soda that gave us Turkey-and-

Gravy-flavored soda a few years back, we can now enjoy that salty, pan-fried flavor of bacon in a bottle. Shell out $10 to the folks at J&D’s (www.jdfoods.net) and you can get two bottles of the bacon brew, some bacon-flavored popcorn, a stick of bacon lip balm and the knowledge you have flushed $10 down the pork path-way to purgatory.

Being a San Francisco 49ers fan, as I watch the footballs games on Thanksgiving Day, I will be thankful that God made the Dallas Cowboys to remind us what turkeys and really bad football look like. Go ’Niners!

How could I not give one of my biggest thanks to my friend, the police scanner? Who else takes me from the comfy confines of home to the flash-ing lights and yellow tape of a crime scene at a moment’s notice? I certainly must be thankful that every time I hear sirens at night, I can leap out of bed and turn the scanner on to see if I need to go to yet another tragedy in the middle of the night. I should have another helping of stuffing as I spend a sleepless night listening to the latest police chase through town.

And, as far as work goes, I am thankful that people around town finally went back on their anti-depressant medication and we haven’t received any more calls of blue lights and UFOs. I am less than thankful, though, that I was once actually assigned to see if I could find the supposed alien’s landing site on MacArthur Drive. It is never a good thing to see a grown photographer cry on assignment.

But through the year’s tragedies, through the heartaches and sufferings we have gone

through as a community and all things we have endured, I am honestly thankful for one thing:

After a time when I thought I might lose my mom this year, after all the fears, frustrations and sleepless nights that ensued, I will drive to my par-ents’ house this Thursday morning, open the door and say, “Happy Thanksgiving, Mom and Dad,” and sit down for dinner with my parents.

I am truly blessed I still have them both, and that is the best thanks I can receive.

� Tracy Press Photo Editor Glenn Moore can be reached at 830-4252 or gmoore@tracypress.com, or check out his blog at http://glenn-snapshots.blogspot.com/.

Thank goodnessThank goodness

Glenn Moore

Above: You know it’s a bad sign when you see this face on your TV screen — or anywhere, for that matter. At right: Bacon soda? Really?

A while back I wrote an article about theme gardens. I’ve just become aware of another type of theme garden: the

Thanksgiving garden. For me, every garden is an expression of grati-

tude. Gratitude for water, without which there could be no life; gratitude for the sun, which fuels growth and strength; and gratitude for the soil, from which all plants come and which reminds us of our roots.

Our yard has a large expanse of lawn, on which our children played during many joyful hours. Now, our children’s children are beginning to do the same, and we are profoundly grateful for that. We have always had an area for children to dig freely, with no concerns about damaging plants. We have trees that have been (and will be) climbed and adorned with all manner of tree-houses, from the simple to the elaborate.

We have a garden that provides us with some-thing to be picked and savored very nearly year-round. We have herbs at the ready to elevate any meal. We even have a night-blooming plant to sweetly scent even the darkest hours.

I am particularly grateful for trees. “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein is one of my most beloved books. I do not care for the debate over what the author is trying to say but instead take the book at face value: Trees give their all to us all. They can cool us with their shade, warm us by pro-viding fuel, shelter us with their canopy or lumber. They offer a place to play and learn. They provide sustenance, tranquility and, in the face of a storm, drama with their movement. They provide many of these things to all creatures, not just humans.

A Thanksgiving garden can also be a garden geared toward abundance. The traditional dinner has diverged a bit from what was offered at the first one, but while we might not have the ability to grow many of the ingredients we now expect on the holiday table, Tracy gardeners can grow some of the more delicious components. In raised beds or heavily-amended areas (to compensate for our heavy soils), we can grow potatoes, yams and carrots. Even the newest gardener can grow green beans, and a perennial herb garden is easy-care and especially useful in holiday cooking.

With so much to be thankful for, we all should take a moment and reflect on the good things in our lives, today and throughout the year.

� Our Town columnist Heather Hamilton is a University of California-certified master gardener. She can be reached at ucmastergardener@gmail.com.

A garden of thanks

Garlic green beansIngredients 4 sliced garlic cloves Cayenne pepperButter1¼ pounds green beans ¼ cup water SugarSalt Chopped pecans

DirectionsToast garlic cloves and a pinch of cayenne pepper in a skillet with butter. Add green beans, season with salt and a pinch of sugar and cook 2 minutes. Add water, cover and cook 6 minutes, then uncover and boil until the water evaporates. Season with salt and pepper and toss with chopped pecans.

Bacon Brussels sproutsIngredients12 ounces thickly sliced lean bacon,

cut crosswise into thin strips 1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced 8 garlic cloves, halved lengthwise 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and

halved, if desiredCoarse salt and freshly ground black pepper Sugar, optional

DirectionsIn a large, deep skillet, cook the bacon over moderately high heat until browned, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, reduce the heat to moderate and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the softened vegetables from the pan and set aside. Add the Brussels sprouts in batches and continue to cook, stir-ring occasionally, until they are golden brown on the outside. Add the reserved bacon and vegetables to the Brussels sprouts in the pan along with salt and pepper, to taste, and a pinch of sugar. Cover skillet with a lid and cook, stirring occasionally, until sprouts are just tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

4 | THURSDAY, NOV. 25, 2010

How should I store my leftover turkey?Within two hours after roast-ing, remove the stuffing from the turkey and carve the meat off the bones. Chill the left-over meat in the refrigerator before wrapping for storage. For refrigerator storage, wrap the turkey and stuffing sepa-rately, and eat them within three days. If you’re storing leftovers in the freezer, wrap the turkey and stuffing sepa-rately in heavy foil, freezer wrap or freezer bags. For best

flavor, eat the stuff-ing within a month

and the turkey within two

months.

Who decided to make Thanksgiving a national holiday?In the mid-1800s Sarah J. Hale, a poet and editor, lobbied for a national Thanksgiving holiday. But it wasn’t until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln — looking to unite the nation during the Civil War — gave his Thanksgiving Proclamation. Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving.

How much turkey do Americans eat on Thanksgiving?More than 45 million turkeys (about 535 million pounds) are cooked and eaten on the holiday.

Besides the meat, what parts of a turkey can be used?A mature turkey has about 3,500 feathers, most of which are composted or disposed of. But some are used for such things as American Indian costumes and pen quills. It has even been reported that Big Bird’s costume on “Sesame Street” is made of turkey feathers. Turkey feather down is also used to make pillows.

Giblets are the edible internal parts of a turkey, including the gizzard, heart, liver and neck. They are usually removed, placed into a plastic bag and reinserted into the body cavity. Many peo-ple, particularly in the South, use the giblets to make gravy.

As for the turkey’s skin, it can be tanned and used for cowboy boots, belts and other acces-sories.

Does turkey really make you sleepy?After a big meal of turkey and trimmings, most people want to nap. Studies have associ-ated the essential amino acid L-tryptophan, a natural sedative, with drowsiness. Although L-tryptophan occurs naturally in turkey, you would have to eat a lot on an empty stomach with no other protein for it to make you

sleepy. If you get drowsy after a big turkey dinner, the culprit is probably your high carbohydrate intake as the blood rushes from your brain to your stomach to help digest the large meal.

How can I use the leftovers?The five most popular ways to serve leftover Thanksgiving turkey are:

�� Sandwich�� Soup or stew�� Casserole�� Stir-fry�� Salad

Some people also make tacos or enchiladas using the meat.

What states produce the most turkeys?Minnesota, Iowa, North Carolina and California are the leading turkey producers, and most states have at least one major operation.

Where do turkeys come from?Turkeys originated in North and Central America and are believed to have been around for more than 10 million years.

How did the turkey get its name?There are several theories on the origin. Some believe that Christopher Columbus thought he had discovered a land con-nected to India and that the bird was some kind of peacock, so he called it “tuka,” which is peacock in Tamil, an Indian lan-guage. Others believe it got its name from an American Indian word for turkey, “firkee.” Others theorize that it got its name from the noise it makes when scared: “turk, turk, turk.”

Can turkeys fly? What other special traits do they have?Turkeys raised on turkey farms can’t fly because they’re too fat and weak. But wild turkeys can fly for short distances at up to 55 mph and can run at speeds up to 25 mph.

Turkeys have great hearing, but no external ears. They can also see in color and have a wide field of vision (about 270 degrees), which makes sneaking up on them difficult.

Is it true that the turkey was considered for the national symbol of the United States?Benjamin Franklin argued passion-ately on behalf of the turkey and was unhappy when the bald eagle was chosen instead. In a letter to his daughter, he said the bald eagle had “bad moral character” and the turkey “is a much more respectable bird, and withal a true origi-nal native of America.”

Why do some people view turkeys as silly creatures?Well, turkeys have been known to drown if they look up when it’s raining. They are also known to drop dead from the shock of passing jets.

But at one time the bird did com-mand enough respect to have a ballroom dance named for it — the turkey trot. (Although, the dance was named for the short, jerky steps a turkey takes.)

Why do turkeys gobble?Actually, only male turkeys gobble. Females make a clicking noise. Male turkeys, or toms, gobble to attract a mate, when they hear loud noises and when they settle in for the night.

— Compiled and written by Cheryl Neely, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

SOURCES: www.butterball.com; www.eatturkey.com; www.factmonster.com;

www.foodtv.com; www.honeysucklewhite.com; www.woodbridgechips.

com; National Turkey Federation

Facts, tips and trivia about our feathered friends

How do I carve a turkey?

Turkey carving is easy, with the right tools and technique.

1. Spoon out stuffing. Let turkey cool for an hour after roasting so the meat can “set.” Pull legs away from turkey; cut through hip joint without remov-ing leg.

2. The first cut into the breast meat goes horizontally, all the way to the breast bone, just above wing joint.

3. Next, cut downward, making thin slices of breast meat. Repeat on other side of breast. Slice meat off thighs.

Source: National Turkey Federation

Herbed White Bean Spread

This versatile, Mediterranean-inspired

bean puree works equally well on a

sandwich, as an appetizer or served

with wedges of bread and salad as a

light meal.

2 cups cooked white beans, any size,

or 1 (16 oz.) can, drained and rinsed

1 medium head garlic

½ cup fresh lemon juice, or to taste

2 or 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Fresh basil, torn or cut into small

pieces, to taste

Salt and pepper

To prepare the roasted garlic: Remove

the papery outer layers from the head,

then slice off the top quarter- to half-

inch and drizzle the exposed cloves

with olive oil. Enclose in foil and bake

at 400°F for about half an hour, until

cloves are soft and aromatic. Let cool

slightly, then squeeze the roasted gar-

lic cloves out of their skins.

Combine the roasted garlic, beans,

lemon juice and oil in a mixing bowl

or the bowl of a food processor. Mash

or blend until fairly smooth. If the

spread is too thick, add a little water.

Stir in herbs, and season to taste with

salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Serve on crusty bread or as a dip for

vegetables or pita chips.

Roasted potatoes, carrots,

parsnips & Brussels sprouts

Ingredients1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 medium carrots (about ¾ pound), cut

into 1½-inch thick circles

1½ cups Brussels sprouts (about ½

pound), halved

4 cups red bliss potatoes (about 1

pound), cut into 1½-inch thick slices

3 medium parsnips (about 1 pound), cut

into 1½-inch thick slices

1 cup sweet potatoes (about 1 pound),

cut into 1½-inch thick slices

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried basil

¼ teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease an 11-by-17-inch baking sheet

pan with extra-virgin olive oil. Place

vegetables in baking sheet and add the

dried herbs, salt and pepper. Toss well,

evenly coating all the vegetables with the

seasonings and oil. Add more oil if the

vegetables seem dry

Spread the vegetables evenly on a large

baking sheet. Place on middle rack in

oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Triple-cheese spirals

IngredientsKosher salt12 ounces gemelli, cavatappi or other spiral-shaped pasta3 tablespoons unsalted butter1 tablespoon all-purpose flour1 teaspoon dry mustardPinch of cayenne pepper1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk½ cup whole milk¾ cup shredded yellow sharp cheddar cheese¾ cup shredded monterey jack cheese

½ cup grated parmesan cheese½ cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, chives and/or scallions

DirectionsBring a pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, mustard and cayenne and stir with a wood-en spoon to make a paste. Cook, stirring, until the paste puffs slightly, about 1 min-ute. Whisk in both milks and ½ teaspoon salt and simmer, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened and creamy, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the cheddar and jack cheeses and all but 2 tablespoons of the parmesan and whisk until melted; keep warm.Combine the panko, herbs and/or scallions,

1 tablespoon butter and the remaining parmesan in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until the butter melts, about 1 minute; toss.Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup cook-ing water, and return to the pot. Toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, then stir in the cheese sauce, adding the reserved cooking water if needed. Season with salt and top with the bread crumb mixture.

Peas with shallots

& pancetta

Ingredients2 tablespoons olive oil

½ pound pancetta, cut into

small dice3 shallots, halved and thinly sliced

Pinch red pepper flakes

1 pound frozen peas, thawed

DirectionsHeat the oil in a large, high-sided

sauté pan over medium heat. Add

the pancetta and cook until golden

brown and the fat has rendered.

Remove the pancetta to a plate

lined with paper towels.

Add the shallots and red pepper

flakes to the pan and cook until

soft. Add the peas and cook until

warmed through. Transfer to a

large bowl and top with the crisp

pancetta.

Broccoli casserole Ingredients2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped broccoli, cooked and drained

1 cup mayonnaise1 cup grated sharp cheddar1 (10¾-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

2 eggs, lightly beaten2 cups crushed crackers2 tablespoons butter, meltedDirectionsPreheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 13-by-9-inch baking

dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.In a large mixing bowl, combine broccoli, mayonnaise, cheese, soup

and eggs. Mix well with a metal spoon. Place the mixture in the pre-

pared baking dish. Top with the crushed crackers, and pour the melted

butter evenly over the crackers. Bake for 35 minutes, or until set and

browned.

Cranberry sauceIngredients 12-ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup sugar1 strip orange or lemon zest2 tablespoons waterSugar, salt and pepper to taste DirectionsEmpty the fresh or frozen cranberries into a saucepan and transfer ½

cup to a small bowl. Add sugar, zest and water to the pan and cook

over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the

cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium

and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes. Reduce the

heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Add sugar, salt and

pepper to taste, and cool to room temperature before serving.

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Tradition is a funny thing. For my family, breaking with tradition is about as

traditional as it gets. My parents hosted their first

Thanksgiving early in their mar-riage. In our universally vegetarian family, the com-monplace worries about an under- or overcooked bird and lumps in the gravy were, naturally, of little con-cern. My innovative mother found a way to dismay her guests nevertheless.

As her in-laws made their way to the dining room, anticipating the time-hon-ored spread of mashed potatoes, cranberries and stuffing, she put the finishing touches on a dish of egg foo yung. Amid china plates and blue-tinted crystal goblets, a neat pyramid of crisp, just-fried eggrolls shared space with platters of stir-fried vegetables.

Twenty-some years later, the story has been retold many times. Chinese food has yet to make an encore

appearance on the holiday table. (But I hear the eggrolls were

delicious.)Still, as my mother reasoned

that year, when there’s no turkey crowning the table, why carry

out the charade of that “traditional” meal? Our Thanksgiving Day menu remains a favorite topic of family debate throughout the month of November. There’s plenty to consider, when the main-dish options alone range from hand-made ravioli (last year’s centerpiece) to grain-and-nut-stuffed mini pumpkins

at each place setting (circa 2005) to an edible pastry cornucopia overflowing with roasted root veg-etables (sometime in the late ’90s, if memory serves).

A bountiful table celebrates the corresponding bounty of harvest and family and life — whatever its flavors.

� Melanie Smith is Our Town editor and Google of grammar for the Press.

THURSDAY, NOV. 25, 2010 | 5

A nonconformist table

Melanie Smith

it the night before, just as he used to do many a year ago.

’Long about noon, most of the family had started to arrive so they could to start the preparation for dinner, only to find that the coals had burned out over-night, and the big bird was still raw.

No stove to cook, so there would be no mashed potatoes, gravy or any of the other delights that went with the holiday.

In my extended family, everyone brings something to go with the bird. My brother-in-law was to have brought ham. Another brother-in-law brought deviled eggs, as well as potato salad — and both needed refrigeration they didn’t have. My wife was to have taken a couple of Jell-O salads.

They resorted to warming the ham, as well as the buns, on the wood-burning stove, only to find that they burnt real fast if you didn’t keep turning them.

Most of the family started getting hun-gry, as well as a bit testy, once they got into the wine. But it all ended well as they tried to make the best of a holiday tradition.

The day ended early, and I’m sure everyone stopped at the first burger joint they saw to get something to eat.

My wife and I? Well, we had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner.

� John Wilson is pressroom foreman for the Press, aka the go-fer.

TURKEY DINNER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

Courtesy photo of Melanie Smith (right) with sister Stephanie Smith and mother Carol Smith during a 2007 Thanksgiving dinner.

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Christmas time at the Ramos house consists of three things: lots of laughs, lots of fam-ily and lots and lots of Mama’s cooking.

From the time we get up — usually to the smell of Mama’s infamous biscuits and gravy — to the second we crawl up the stairs to bed, we’re stuffing our faces with goodies and cracking each other up with jokes only we would understand and appreciate.

From all the traditions my family has, I have to say our Christmas Eve tradition’s my all-time favorite. We kick off the day with a breakfast fit for a king, which is of course prepared by Chef Mama. And after a much-needed rest from the huge task of eating breakfast, my sisters and I wrap — or, in my case, bag — presents and pile them near the 10-foot-plus Christmas tree in the living room, which is decorated only by Mama. (Don’t feel too bad for us kids. There are literally seven or eight trees

in the house that need decorating.)As the day winds down, my sisters and I get

in our primp mode and get dolled up for the evening, which consists of church, lasagna — or

sometimes spaghetti, depending on the chef’s mood — Christmas music and a house full of relatives and friends. As the lasagna pans get lighter, the empty wine and sparkling cider bottles pile up on the kitchen counter and the candles dim, it could only mean one thing: The time to open that single present, before the unwrapping fest in the morning, is near.

Every year for the past few years, my mom has given my sisters and me matching pajamas on Christmas Eve.

There was a time, once, when we hated it when our mom would dress us alike, but now it’s something we look forward to every year.

� Kelsy Ramos is managing editor of the Press and the copydesk page monkey.

If you come to Thanksgiving dinner at the Mendelson house,

you’re as liable to be served pheasant as turkey. There’s no such thing as a traditional bird for us. But if there’s one staple year after year, it’s the stuffing.

It’s fairly simple stuff — no, I won’t divulge the recipe — but each year, my father has to make at least two extra loaf pans of the stuff, in addition to whatever’s filling the bird, just so there’s enough for what is usually only the four of us. Yeah, we like stuffing that much.

One year, though, we could’ve

done without the secret ingre-dient. Because blood and bread

crumbs just shouldn’t mix.

When Dad’s wielding a knife in the kitchen, you don’t want to hear “Aaargh!” You even less want to see Dad shortly thereafter walk from the kitchen holding his finger saying “It’s fine” — the Mendelson equivalent to “Pay no

attention to that man behind the curtain.”

That favorite carbon-steel knife of Dad’s had sliced right through the very tip of his ring finger, almost entirely cutting it off. It was just there, waving

by a little bit of skin.But true to Mendelson form,

he refused stitches, covered the injury in gauze and a splint (probably held together by the Handyman’s Secret Weapon — duct tape), and went back to the business of putting together the evening meal.

And, luckily, as he actually managed to keep the blood away from the food, every-thing turned out great. Even the stuffing.

Oh, and as it turns out, Dad’s home-rigged finger fix turned out fine.

� Jon Mendelson is a associate edi-tor for the Press associate and MacGyver of the copydesk.

6 | THURSDAY, NOV. 25, 2010

Jon Mendelson

Keep your finger out of the food

Matching PJs could only mean it’s Christmas Eve

12/24/200812/24/2008

Kelsy Ramos

Courtesy photos of Kelsy Ramos with

sisters Keena, Kiley and Ryan.